As a concerned parent I always was on top of things thus communicating with my kids and am relieved to say they have never taken drugs. I read a quote in the Awake from the The Times of London: "Parents are so worried about their teenage children getting mixed up with drugs that they are failing to spot the serious emitonal and mental health problems that concern their offspring."

Since I have a problem with PTSD I at times have been putting down myself as a parent second guessing if I couldn't of done better even though my kids live by high moral standards. The quote above helped me see that parents can be so concerned about drugs and look for signs of drug abuse rather than look for signs of emotional distress which might show up before the child that has a problem coping thus restorting to drugs and giving into to peer pressure. I figure that in view of what I read since we had regular communication and spiritual education in our home I was able to spot when either of my children were distressed.

If you are a parent with this concern I want to assure you that does not mean failure on your part. There are so many outside influences that can take hold on our precious children. And even a child (or adult) that has taken drugs may just be a victim of something difficult going on in their life and need love, empathy and sincere help.

Just thought I'd share with other concerned parents.

Victoria